Mark 1:6 – 8
6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you withwater, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
God’s promise of a rescuer and Saviour of the Jews, and unbeknownst to them, the whole world, was now officially in action. I find it interesting that John did not emerge from the religious elite of his day, which one would expect for one who has the incredible privilege of sounding the trumpet for the arrival of the King of the universe. No, John looked like a religious revolutionary, lived on the outskirts, wore unusual and probably uncomfortable clothes, and literally lived off the land in another category of vegetarianism. And yet he was undeniably a prophet of the highest order, with many drawn to him by his profound message. He spoke with such authority that people wanted to change their ways at his stern pleading.
And then he astonished his followers, with the sweetest prophetic promise. Whatever was stirred in their hearts to change by John’s baptism, his successor would revolutionise, by changing not only their behaviour, but their deepest desires when he baptised them with the Holy Spirit.
How does Jesus give you comfort in the midst of the personal uncertainty posed by the pandemic?
Sean Kluyts – Carina Campus
